Situated ca. 36 km. southeast of Mosul, Dayro d-Mor
Behnam contains the only full program of medieval church decoration that
survives to this day in Iraq. The monastery consists of a fortress-like
complex, the main buildings of which are the monastic church and a separate
octagonal mausoleum housing the relics of Mor Behnam, which is commonly
referred to as either the ‘Pit’ or the ‘Outside Martyrion’. The entire
complex is known in Syriac as Beth Gubbā, and in
Arabic as Dayr al-Jubb, ‘Monastery of the Pit’.
According to the legend of Mor Behnam (ed. P. Bedjan, AMS, vol. II, 397–441), the monastery was built in the 4th cent.
on the site of the graves of the martyrs Behnam and his sister Sarah. The
first secure evidence for its existence is encountered in the 12th cent., in
the first place in a dedicatory inscription which states that the ‘altar’
(probably meaning the entire altar room) was reconstructed in 1164, which
suggests that the church existed well before this date. These reconstruction
activities may have occasioned the writing down of the legend of Mor Behnam.
The oldest written account is preserved in a Syr. Orth.
ms. (London, Brit.
Libr. Add. 12,174), which was copied in 1197 for Dayro d-Mor Barṣawmo near Melitene, and
contains a note by Patr. Michael I Rabo.

Whatever the exact nature of the restoration work executed at Dayro d-Mor
Behnam in 1164, less than a century later the monastery was the site of
large-scale refurbishment activities, probably through the involvement of
monks from Dayro d-Mor Matay, with which the monastery appears to have maintained close
administrative and economic ties. Most of the monastic church’s extensive
sculptural decoration and architectural features closely resemble those
encountered in monuments dating from the reign of Badr al-Dīn Luʾluʾ, the
Atabeg ruler of Mosul, and may therefore be dated between ca. 1233 and 1259.
Obviously benefiting from the economic and cultural boom in the Mosul area
during this period, the interior and exterior of the church were both
provided with new stone carving. Three domes with interior stucco decoration
probably also date from this period of artistic activity. In addition to
motifs familiar from contemporary Islamic contexts, such as lions and
dragons, the decoration program conveys distinctively Christian themes,
including equestrian saints, martyrs, and monks, as well as two scenes based
on the life of Mor Behnam.

Along with the extensive figural decoration, the numerous inscriptions situated on the walls of the monastic church and the
mausoleum, which date from the 12th through the 20th cent.
, are of particular
importance to the study of Syriac Christianity. Mainly written in Syriac,
but also in Arabic, Armenian, and Uighur, these inscriptions not only
include liturgical texts and biblical verses, but also historical
information, as well as names of artists and patrons. According to one of
these inscriptions, the monastery was looted in 1295 by the invading Mongol
army of Khan Baidu. The abbot of the monastery was subsequently able to
persuade Baidu not only to return all the stolen objects, but even to make a
donation, which was apparently used for the construction of a new grave for
the relics of Mor Behnam, built in the mausoleum in 1300. In the 15th and
16th cent., several Maphrians chose Dayro d-Mor Behnam as their seat,
including Diosqoros Behnam II (1415–17), whose grave is still found in the
monastery’s burial room. In 1579/80, Maphr. Basilius Pilatus (1576–91) wrote
a letter from the monastery to Pope Gregory XIII (1572–85) in which he
expressed interest in establishing a formal union with the Church of
Rome.

Having suffered a long period of decline, the monastery was finally brought
under the jurisdiction of the Syriac
Catholic Church in 1839, but continued to lead a poor existence
until 1936, when Ephrem Abdal established a new community of monks there. In
addition to revitalizing Dayro d-Mor Behnam’s library, superior Abdal
(1936–66) initiated the first of a series of large-scale restorations, which
were continued by his successors, in particular during the 1980s and 1990s.
Today, the monastery is one of the most flourishing Christian sites in the
Mosul area.